STEVE CARROLL WRITES

The following column originally appeared in Justin Marriott's PAPERBACK FANATIC #50 (sadly the final edition of this fine publication), which was published in August of 2025. You can buy a copy of it  HERE . That article has been slightly expanded upon for this blog. The Horror!   The Horror! I   grew up in a household with a mother who regularly read true crime murder magazines. She got stacks of them from her own mother and I was absolutely terrified of them as an elementary-age child. Maybe that   macabre sense of normalcy in middle   American suburban life is what led Mom to be a very early adopter of reading   horror novels. That became much easier in the 70s as horror found a willing   playground in mainstream publishing that further blossomed in the 80s. As Mom   would read what seemed a particularly good scary book, she invariably allowed   me to follow suit. In retrospect, I’m   not sure that was wise parenting, but I   am ...

I need to start this review with a qualifier:  Carrion Comfort  by Dan Simmons is easily   one of my top 3 favorite horror novels of all time, even though it   straddles   multiple genres, including espionage, historical fiction, and revenge thriller.   But make no mistake—this is ultimately a horror novel of the first   magnitude.  It won the  Bram   Stoker Award , the  Locus Poll Award   for Best   Horror Novel , and the  August Derleth Award   for   Best Novel . The rewards are many and rich for those who have the patience   to allow Simmons to slowly unfold his epic tale. To accomplish this, Simmons   employs a   large cast of characters, good and bad, spanning decades, from   World War II through to the 80s, where he sets the bulk of his action. Be forewarned,   anyone can die at any time and there is a lot of carnage spread out across its   length. To boil the concept down...